We are pleased to introduce to you the company Gruten, which is part of the Edible Cities Network.

Gruten is an Oslo based business that gives coffee waste a new meaning since they make products like soaps and body scrubs out of it and run courses and workshops to raise awareness and build practical knowledge. Additionally, they established an urban mushroom farm, the first of its kind in Norway, where they grow oyster mushrooms on coffee waste, which they sell to restaurants and private customers.

Gruten engaged in the EdiCitNet project at Linderud Gård in Oslo where they build mushroom beds with the local community and re-use the end substrate again. This work really stands for the Edible Cities Network!

Find their products and more information on their website: https://www.gruten.no/

Become part of the EdiCitNet Marketplace along with many exciting initiatives like Gruten and register here: https://www.edicitnet.com/biz/

We are pleased to introduce to you the company Insec2eat, which is part of the Edible Cities Network.

Insec2eat sells food made from insect meal, such as pasta or crispbread, which you can buy climate-neutrally packaged here: https://www.insec2eat.com/

Insect meal is a healthy and sustainable new approach, especially in times of pandemic crisis but also in view of the food crisis. According to the UN, breeding insects is climate-friendly and, due to their high nutritional value, hunger can be defeated.

We must stop destroying our natural resources and finally listen to nature. Our destruction of nature, and therefore of the earth, is already causing consequences for many people. Therefore, food made from insect meal is a good alternative to eat protein-rich and sustainable food.

Become part of the EdiCitNet Marketplace along with many exciting initiatives like Insec2eat and register here: https://www.edicitnet.com/biz/

We are pleased to introduce to you the company Marktschwärmer, which is part of the Edible Cities Network.

Marktschwärmer is an online shop where the customer buys directly from the producer in one of the 17 “Schwärmereien” in Berlin on www.marktschwaermer.de/de, there are no costs for middlemen or market fees.

On one day in the week the consumers fetch the fresh purchases then at a central place in their neighborhood and meet there the people, who produce their meal.

The movement already has more than 80,000 members, almost 1,000 regional producers, more than 50 hosts of local markets and a small team of dedicated Marktschwärmer in Berlin and Paris who connect these people.

In over 50 local “Schwärmereien”, many thousands of people shop differently. With each purchase they directly support almost 1,000 small and artisanal producers in their region.

You can find Marktschwärmer and many other initiatives on the EdiCitNet Marketplace, where you can exchange ideas with other interested people and companies. Register here: https://www.edicitnet.com/biz/

REACT is organizing a series of technical visits to the different ECSs in Tunisia for knowhow charring, dissemination and consolidation of the already established ECS network.

On July 24, 2020, our first visit was to an Orchard-vegetable garden in the heart of the city of Carthage in Amilcar.

As you walked through the estate gate, you felt yourself in the middle of a forest, managed in order to create an environment where you feel in harmony with nature.

The Manager of the “Garden of Amilcar “, Mr Sami BOUJEMAA, warmly welcomed us and presented us his garden of more than 3000m² composed of 5 Orchard-vegetable gardens built on the basis of permaculture.  The discussion was around the concepts and principles of the garden, composting and its different types, farmers’ seeds, water availability and irrigation, varieties and their origins, future projects, impacts on all the neighbourhoods and more.

Passionate about agriculture, since the installation of this vegetable garden in February 2019, he has succeeded in meeting the needs of three families living around the garden with fruits and vegetables while respecting his motto of organic conduct and respect for the natural balance.

For two hours, the 13 participants (ECSs and project coordinators) responding to our invitation, openly exchanged their experiences in this very pleasant setting.

We are all looking forward to meeting again during the second technical visit scheduled for September 11 in another ECS (Start up).

We are pleased to introduce to you the company Maltaflor, which is part of the Edible Cities Network.

The company Maltaflor Europa GmbH is a fertilizer manufacturer based on the development of an entirely new bionic fertilizing technology that uses special plant hormones and growth compounds extracted from malt sprouts (malt-culms).

Maltaflor has become one of the leading fertilizer manufacturers in Germany by having invented products such as Symbio® which can recreate natural habitat in any soil environment including toxic landfills, especially when the microbial is not in balance.

All fertilizers made by Maltaflor are engineered to address all aspects of a healthy cultivation, from plantations to urban greening while giving priority to preserve water quality, chemical exposure and use of natural resources.

Maltaflor has supported the EdiCitNet program with knowledge & experience in soil management technologies and continue to support the program with education for students by providing soil analysis facilities. Find more information here: https://www.maltaflor.de/

You can find Maltaflor and many other initiatives on the EdiCitNet Marketplace, where you can exchange ideas with other interesting people and companies: https://www.edicitnet.com/biz/

In the new episode of the HU science podcast “Unendliche Weiten, faszinierende Welten”, our colleague Dr. Ina Säumel talks to radio presenter Claudia Knoblauch in an interview in Prinzessinnengärten Berlin about the EdiCitNet project and edible cities in general.

They talk about how cities such as Rotterdam and Havana, as pioneers, supply their inhabitants with vegetables grown in the city itself. Although “urban gardening” is a worldwide trend, it is difficult for citizens’ initiatives in cities like Berlin to turn it into sustainable and, above all, long-lasting projects.

Dr. Ina Säumel is the head of the Multifunctional Landscapes research group at IRI THESys, where our project is based. She researches the functions and advantages of urban gardens and the question of how to support the mostly small citizens’ initiatives. The most important thing would be to take urban gardens into account in future urban planning and to plan for them from the outset.

The podcast in German and further information can be found here:

https://blogs.hu-berlin.de/podcast/2020/07/15/champignons-aus-dem-keller-und-salat-vom-hausdach/